Rural common property resources represent the historically evolved institutional arrangements made by communities in dry regions (in the present case) to guard against the vulnerabilities and risks created by the biophysical and environmental circumstances characteristic of these areas. Despite their valuable contributions, CPRS are faced with decline in terms of both extent as well as contribution to the people, and therefore consequent neglect by the communities. This paper looks into the process of this negative change, and attributes the same to public policies, market forces and population growth (accentuating land hunger) along with the disintegration of traditional collective approaches of communities to maintain CPRS as community assets.
